More rescue equipment sent to Hyderabad crash site via train: rescue officials

HYDERABAD: Operations are under way to clear the wreckage and reopen railway tracks after two goods trains collided near Kotri early Saturday. More than seven trains have been halted at the Hyderabad and Kotri railway stations.

The Karachi-Hyderabad route will take at least one day to be restored and reopened for trains, railway officials said. In addition to a train that had been sent from Karachi to the crash site in order to help with the operations, another one has now been dispatched, comprising a bogie and an engine, and carrying additional rescue and restoration equipment, they added.

While a confirmed time cannot be provided as to when the tracks will be reopened, railways officials explained that the process will take at least 8-10 hours (or some time between 8-10 PM, Saturday night). Only once the damaged bogies and engines are removed can it be gauged as to how severely the railway track has been affected.

No casualties

The accident occurred between the Bholari and Meeting Pul near Kotri. Officials said a goods train transporting containers to Lahore crashed into the rear side of another train carrying oil to Multan. As a result, several bogies crashed into one another and many were also thrown off track.

Railways DS Nisar Memon said around 23 bogies were derailed, whereas the engine of one of the trains was also completely destroyed. 

Both the North and South-bound train network were halted owing to the accident, with Memon saying it could take around eight hours to clear the tracks and reopen rail traffic between Karachi and Punjab. 

No casualties are said to have taken place in the accident. 

Railways officials later confirmed that Karachi's rail traffic will be operated from Hyderabad as routes to and from Karachi remain blocked.

Meanwhile, Federal Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique — on an official visit to China — inquired about the incident with relevant officials over the phone and directed that train routes be reopened as soon as possible.